For anyone curious - years 1,2,3 were taken in upstate NY (Manlius) in our yard full of old trees. Leaves were plentiful and it was convenient and easy to rake a big pile right at home.
Years 4,5,6,7 were taken in Tampa, FL. We drove around or scraped up what we could from our street but in November the leaves hadn't yet dropped there and it was frustrating. Those photos all look like crap IMO. I have resisted trying to re-edit new leaf numbers over them because the leaves also tell the story of our lives at the time. I want to say in year 7 we had our family from NC bring a trash bag of leaves with them. Every year was stressful when we lived there because I had this self-imposed tradition and deadline to have the photos taken before his birthday.
Year 8 is the wildcard, attributed to us moving from FL back to NC but we didn't have a place yet. We had to use a public area in Charlotte that is known for its ginkgo trees. Maybe we will tie up the whole series with a golden 18 there in 2 years...
And then years 9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16 have all been taken at a public green space in our neighborhood in Charlotte. There aren't enough trees there to drop a big pile so we source them from around the neighborhood, bag or tarp them, and set them up. Then we make a big pile and our kids and the neighborhood kids usually have fun jumping it after.
![image showing A birthday tradition, 16 years strong [OC]](4a02e7dc-7e4e-5419-a355-8da79d057fe3.jpg)
Ancalimei on November 22nd, 2024 at 15:52 UTC »
Neat and fun tradition!
Spartan2470 on November 22nd, 2024 at 16:30 UTC »
I remember you doing these with your other kid.
pantenepterodactyl on November 22nd, 2024 at 18:28 UTC »
For anyone curious - years 1,2,3 were taken in upstate NY (Manlius) in our yard full of old trees. Leaves were plentiful and it was convenient and easy to rake a big pile right at home.
Years 4,5,6,7 were taken in Tampa, FL. We drove around or scraped up what we could from our street but in November the leaves hadn't yet dropped there and it was frustrating. Those photos all look like crap IMO. I have resisted trying to re-edit new leaf numbers over them because the leaves also tell the story of our lives at the time. I want to say in year 7 we had our family from NC bring a trash bag of leaves with them. Every year was stressful when we lived there because I had this self-imposed tradition and deadline to have the photos taken before his birthday.
Year 8 is the wildcard, attributed to us moving from FL back to NC but we didn't have a place yet. We had to use a public area in Charlotte that is known for its ginkgo trees. Maybe we will tie up the whole series with a golden 18 there in 2 years...
And then years 9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16 have all been taken at a public green space in our neighborhood in Charlotte. There aren't enough trees there to drop a big pile so we source them from around the neighborhood, bag or tarp them, and set them up. Then we make a big pile and our kids and the neighborhood kids usually have fun jumping it after.